Peanut Butter Chicken and Broccoli Sheet Pan Dinner

When it comes to making dinner, one thing I absolutely love is a meal where you can focus all your efforts in one direction (like pasta or a big salad or a casserole, etc.). I do love to EAT meals with various components (like a roast chicken with mashed potatoes and other sides) so I can try a little bit of everything, but when you're trying to throw dinner together on a weeknight, it's just so much easier to focus on one idea - and it's even better when it's made in one pan. That's why I love Molly Gilbert's book Sheet Pan Suppers, as well as her newest book, One Pan and Done. 

Today I'm sharing my version of her chicken and broccoli with peanut sauce, a perfect sheet pan supper from her first book. Speaking of books, do you guys know the cookbook Small Victories by Julia Turshen? (It's one of my new favorites that I also highly recommend.) That concept of "small victories" in the kitchen makes me think of Molly's books. Her one-pan philosophy is a constant small victory for the weeknight meal. But this particular dish has loads of other ones, too. Let's talk about them:

BROILING CHICKEN

Robert and I first made this dish a couple years ago, and now we broil chicken like this on a weekly basis. We used to always cook chicken in a skillet, but after trying this recipe we had a revelation. Popping chicken under the broiler is super fast, hands-off, and easy to clean since you do it on aluminum foil. Robert loves to keep chicken on hand to add a little protein to his weekday lunches, and it's so easy to throw chicken under the broiler for 10 minutes while we're doing other things in the kitchen.

BROILING BROCCOLI

Charred broccoli is insanely delicious. Roasting it is great, but broiling it gives it a nicer char while not overcooking the rest of it. Now if we have a head of broccoli to use up, we'll just broil it with some olive oil and sea salt so we have it on hand to throw in grain bowls or salads, etc. But sometimes we have a hard time not eating all of it right off the pan. Broiling broccoli = another kitchen nugget we stole from this recipe.

PERFECTING MY PEANUT SAUCE

I'm quite particular about peanut sauce. We don't like it spicy, and I don't like too much sesame oil. We like it to be creamy and rich from the peanut butter, but I like it to have a nice zing from lime juice. But then Robert doesn't like too much lime juice. So as we've made this recipe several times, I tweaked Molly's sauce until it was exactly where we like it, taking notes right in the book for future reference. I encourage you to tweak my recipe as well - Add more of one ingredient or another until you have it right where you want it. Feel free to add hot sauce, too, if that's your thing. So thanks to this recipe, I now have my back-pocket peanut sauce for whenever I'm in the mood.

THE FINISHING TOUCH

Robert and I like to eat the chicken and broccoli with rice to stretch it a little farther. While we could certainly make our own rice, we've been keeping packets of Veetee Dine In instant rice on hand to make meals like this even easier. They're perfect for when we're throwing together leftovers and need something to boost it up, or for meals like this when we want something really easy so we can have dinner ready as soon as possible. (I also love that they have a ton of flavors.) After two minutes in the microwave we have perfect, fluffy rice to serve with the chicken and broccoli. Having one less thing to worry about means we can spend more time getting the kitchen clean before we eat (something I always strive for but continue to fail at).

EASY CLEAN-UP

I wish all recipes were this quick to make and easy to clean up. You make the sauce in a big bowl, toss the chicken and broccoli with it in there, and then put it on a foil-lined sheet pan. So quick, so easy. While the meal is under the broiler for ten minutes, you can easily clean up the few kitchen items you used in the process, make sure your rice is ready, and then you're good to go. And you can just throw away the foil from your sheet pan. If you used Veetee Rice like we do, then your prep and clean-up work is even smoother. Small victories everywhere!

See what I mean? Not only is this recipe delicious (Robert would eat it once a week if it was up to him), but it's an all-around winner in the kitchen. And if you're a party of two like us, then you can have leftovers for the next night as well. Winning!

Both of Molly's books are wonderful. The first one (Sheet Pan Suppers) is all sheet pan meals (obviously), and then her new book, One Pan and Done, features recipes made on a sheet pan, in a cast iron skillet, a dutch oven, loaf pans, muffin pans and more. We obviously love this peanut butter chicken recipe, but I can also vouch for her turkey meatballs and we made a great fish and pesto recipe from the new book. I've also been eyeing her cashew chicken recipe in the new book, which is kind of similar to this recipe. (So I'm sure we'll love it.)

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GIVEAWAY

[UPDATE: THIS GIVEAWAY HAS CLOSED.] I have an extra copy of One Pan and Done to give away to you! And my lovely partner for this post, Veetee Rice (creator of the best instant rice I've ever used), is also going to send the winner two 6-packs of rice in a flavor of their choice. So with this book in hand and some Veetee Rice in your pantry, you can have a delicious meal on the table in no time.

Use the rafflecopter widget below to enter. This giveaway will close on Sunday, March 26 at 11:59 PM EST.

This post was sponsored by Veetee Rice. Thanks for supporting the brands that help to keep Cake Over Steak up and running. All opinions are my own.

Illustration at top created with pen, Photoshop and Illustrator.
Prints of my illustrations (along with other products with my work on them) are available in my Society6 shop.

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Peanut Butter Chicken and Broccoli Sheet Pan Dinner

makes 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tbsp dark brown sugar

• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp creamy peanut butter

• 3/4 tsp toasted sesame oil

• 1 tbsp + 1/2 tsp soy sauce

• 1 tbsp rice vinegar

• 1/4 cup warm water

• juice from half of a lime

• 1 pound broccoli, chopped into medium-sized chunks (about 1x3 inches)

• 4-6 thin-cut boneless, skinless chicken breasts or cutlets (1-1.5 lbs total)

• cooked rice (like Veetee Instant Rice)

• Extra lime wedges (for serving)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat the oven to the highest setting and line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil.

2. In a large bowl, stir together the brown sugar, peanut butter, sesame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, warm water and lime juice. Taste it and add more of whatever you want to get the sauce the way you like it.

3. Take 1/4 cup of the peanut sauce out of the bowl and set it aside. You'll use that later.

4. Add your chicken and broccoli to the large bowl of peanut sauce (the original bowl). Toss everything to coat.

5. Arrange the chicken and broccoli on your foil-lined sheet pan. Spread everything out in a single layer.

6. Turn your oven to broil and place the sheet pan under the broiler. Broil everything for 5 minutes. Pull the sheet pan out and flip your chicken over. Broil for another 5-7 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and browned, and your broccoli is nicely charred.

7. Serve the chicken and broccoli with the cooked rice and lime wedges. Drizzle with your leftover peanut sauce and squeeze some extra lime juice on top, if desired.

NOTES

adapted from Sheet Pan Suppers